Pieces of Tomorrow
by V. Shalyr
Summary: Settling in to life in the Magnolia branch of the Magical Crimes Investigations division is proving to be neither easy nor quick, although compared to everyone else in the department, Zeref feels practically normal. AU, NatsuxZeref, sequel to "Modern Fantasy"
1. Anonymity

**Main Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **Other Mentioned Pairing(s)** : Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (married), Loke x Lucy Heartfilia, Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet

 **WARNINGS: AU ,** **eventual Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned**

 **AN** : This is the sequel to my other story "Modern Fantasy" and begins shortly after the end of the prequel.

* * *

 **Pieces of Tomorrow**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **1\. Anonymity**

Zeref cherished his anonymity. It was so easy for him to lose it. Perhaps that was why he was so absolutely and totally dreading going in for his first official day of work,. Work..,. Of course he'd worked before, and as an academic and intellectual person, he quite enjoyed having things to do. He just wasn't sure how right it was for him to enjoy it. So many terrible things had happened because of the work he'd done way, way back when he'd still been as young as he looked.

"Do you know what I will be doing?" he asked, trailing somewhat anxiously after Natsu towards the MCI building down the street.

"Erza wants to meet with you to discuss that. You sure you're feeling all right? You look sort of pale."

Which was saying something.

"I'm sure."

If "all right" included feeling like his stomach was trying to migrate into his throat anyway.

On the bright side, many of the people around the office had seen him already, so he drew only a handful of curious glances when he followed Natsu through the glass doors.

"Erza's not in yet," the receptionist said when she spotted them over the top of her tankard, "but I'll let you know as soon as she arrives."

"Thanks."

Zeref found himself staring a little, and once they turned the corner, he said, "She has two barrels of beer under her desk."

Natsu didn't appear surprised.

"Yeah, that's Cana for you. Drinking is pretty much her life when she hasn't got a field assignment."

"And... she works in reception?"

"Better than a lot of the other choices we currently have, trust me. And anyway, no one cares too much as long as the job gets done. It takes a hell of a lot of booze to get her actually drunk."

"I see..."

"This is the first time you've met her, right? She's been out a lot lately. Family matters, I think."

They arrived in the main office to find it bursting at the seams with activity. It seemed like everyone who _could_ be in _was_. Zeref took a chair next to Natsu's desk and just tried to keep out of everyone's way while he waited for his meeting. The Dragon Slayer had a report to write. It was probably the part of his job that Natsu hated most, but it had at least gotten a bit easier with Zeref around to give him pointers on how to organize it, which details to include, and which details to omit.

The Black Wizard paused partway through explaining to him how best to outline the events that had led to the bar brawl downtown when he suddenly stopped speaking. Natsu stopped writing and looked up.

"Something the matter?"

"...Why is that person walking through the office with no clothes on?"

"Oh, him? That's Gray, one of the other field team captains—basically, his job is like mine. Uh, the clothes are a bad habit. Half the time, he doesn't even realize he's naked."

Zeref couldn't understand how someone could fail to realize something so... obvious.

"Nobody minds?"

"Of course people _mind_. There just isn't much anyone can do about it. Erza's beat him up a couple times because of it, and if that doesn't stop him, nothing will."

"It doesn't seem to stop you from challenging her," Zeref pointed out. He personally thought that was a bit of a bad habit too.

"Hey, that's different! How am I supposed to know if I've gotten any stronger if I don't have a measure?"

"Is that important?"

"It is to me."

Zeref thought about this then nodded and let the matter go. Different things were important to different people.

"You know," Natsu said, fixing him with a curious look, "considering most of the wizards I've met, it's kind of weird how much you _don't_ care."

The shorter wizard took some time to answer, wanting to be honest but unsure if his words would sound arrogant.

"I know I am a very skilled wizard even by the standard of other skilled wizards, and I feel no need to prove that to anyone. Whether other people acknowledge my abilities or not will not make me any better or any worse than I am. Besides, I have found many things I believe to be more important. And my magic has brought me little but trouble."

Both because of the people who feared him like the government and because of the people who wanted him like the Dark Guilds.

"Guess I hadn't thought of it that way."

The Dragon Slayer frowned, his thoughts drifting back to Grimoire Heart. Being a great wizard really hadn't done Zeref much good. On the other hand...

"Well, at least one good thing's happened because you're a wizard." Natsu grinned. "I got to meet you. That wouldn't have happened if you were an ordinary human."

Zeref blinked slowly. He... hadn't thought of it that way either, but yes, he supposed that was true. The two of them had been born generations apart after all. Only magic would have allowed their encounter.

"Natsu?"

Zeref recognized the girl who approached them as one of Natsu's teammates. He'd seen the blue-haired wizard briefly on a number of occasions but never spoken to her.

"Hey, Wendy, what's up?"

"Um, well..." The girl glanced from her field team captain to Zeref then hurriedly back again.

The Black Wizard noted her wariness, and that in turn made him uncomfortable. He excused himself and went to survey the view from the large, office windows. The buildings lining the street and the cars racing by below on the sun-baked pavement all looked... pretty much the same as any other buildings or cars he'd seen in his very, very long journey. They failed to inspire much interest in him and he started to turn away only for his attention to be snared by a sudden and brightly colored commotion down below.

"Natsu," he said once the Dragon Slayer had finished speaking with his teammate, "there seems to be a lot of angry women outside the front door."

"Ugh, they're probably here to see Loke."

"Why?"

"You can think of them as his jilted lovers."

"...All of them?"

"He got around a lot before he and Lucy got together."

Zeref looked back down at the street. There had to be almost two dozen women out there. Half of them looked on the verge of tears while the other half looked like they wanted to kill something. Preferably the lion spirit or his new girlfriend.

"Do we... need to do anything about them?"

"I wouldn't recommend trying unless you want to get trampled. They're Loke's problem. Let him deal with it."

Zeref wondered where the orange-haired man was.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one.

"Have any of you people seen Loke?"

The woman in the doorway was tall and slim, all sharp edges with narrow spectacles and a twist to her lips like she'd swallowed something sour.

"Sorry, can't say we have," Natsu said for all of them.

The woman adjusted her spectacles with two long fingers and scowled. "That's just like him to go running off when he's needed. I don't see what Lucy sees in him. Men like him are so unreliable."

"Is she one of his former lovers also?"

Natsu slapped a hand over his mouth and hissed, "Don't let her hear you say that. She turns people to stone when she's in a bad mood and then we've got to listen to them complain."

When the Slayer removed his hand, Zeref asked, "The people who were turned to stone?"

"Yeah. That's a whole day of work down the drain right there."

That hardly seemed like the main issue.

It took awhile, but eventually, the office seemed to settle down. Desks emptied as people departed on patrols or specific field assignments. While Natsu went to pick up some reference books from the archives, Zeref busied himself looking over his partner's old case files. He'd really prefer to keep on assisting him if he could. It unnerved him to think that he might be assigned to a different team.

He'd gone through about half a dozen when a shadow fell over the page.

"So you're the one," the newcomer said, inspecting Zeref from head to toe. "You certainly don't look like a powerful, ex-dark wizard sought after by half the globe. Still, if Erza let you in here, you've got to be good."

That was the only warning Zeref got before an icy lion leapt for him—and evaporated in a blast of fire that narrowly missed incinerating a desk and granted a set of metal filing cabinets a distinctly melted look.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" Natsu snarled. He shoved Zeref behind him and followed his first spell with a second.

The pale-haired Ice Wizard leapt back, dodging the flames and summoning a flock of frozen eagles.

"I should be asking you that, Salamander. I thought that was how everyone in this department said hello."

"Yeah, well, Z's a special case, and you're not even in this department. What are you doing in Magnolia anyway?"

"Visiting Gray, obviously. And checking out the mysterious new addition to your ranks, of course. This is completely against standard protocol. "

"Like you've got room to talk. Your division's hardly the model of standard protocol."

"Now I'm even more curious. You're being awfully protective."

A shower of sword blades interrupted the fight before it could escalate any further.

"Stop it, both of you," Erza's voice cut through the sudden lull. "Natsu, I've told you time and time again, no fighting in the office. The damages are coming out of your paycheck. Lyon, this is no way to behave for a visiting MCI division representative."

Zeref peered around from behind Natsu's desk where he had taken shelter. It seemed that the Dragon Slayer's desk was quickly becoming his safe haven in this crazy place. If Natsu was at it, this was a bonus.

The scarlet-haired woman glared sternly at the two wizards.

"Now, I've got a meeting to get started. If you're here to see Gray, he's down in the practice arena right now. I'll send someone to fetch you when I'm done here so we can talk about what's been happening at your division."

Dismissing the Ice Wizard with this, Erza turned to Zeref. Her bearing was as intimidating as ever, especially with the armor she never seemed to be without, but this time at least, she offered him an amused smile.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. If you would please follow me to my office, we can get started."

The Black Wizard nodded and stood, feeling rather strange. Compared to most of these people, he felt practically normal.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Yay:) I've finally managed to connect some of the bits and pieces I had for this, so I'm starting to put some of it up. Sorry it took so long. Unfortunately, I have been—and still am, actually—having a really hard time with this.

As a heads up, the first few chapters will be more continuous, but I do not intend this to be a single long story like its prequel. This is meant to be a collection of short stories and snapshots from the characters' lives, hence the title "Pieces" of Tomorrow. Stories may also end up not being posted in chronological order. I'll do my best to make sure it's not confusing.

.


	2. Missing Persons

**Main Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **Other Mentioned Pairing(s)** : Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (married), Loke x Lucy Heartfilia, Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet

 **WARNINGS: AU ,** **eventual Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned**

* * *

 **Pieces of Tomorrow**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **2\. Missing Persons**

Erza's office was quiet, for which Zeref was grateful. He was alone in it with her, for which he was not.

"My apologies," the woman said, reading his unease in his posture. "I don't want Natsu's input just yet, and if I let him in, he's going to give his input whether I want it or not."

This earned her a very small smile. He knew what she meant. Natsu tended to have strong opinions, and he generally didn't bother to keep them to himself. It was something Zeref appreciated about him.

Erza leaned back in her chair, the fingers of one hand tapping the top of her desk as she regarded him. She'd been the head of Magnolia's Magical Crimes Investigations division for a few years now, and she had been with the division for far longer. Despite all that experience, this was the first time she had heard of any situation quite like this one.

"I know that you'd probably prefer to stay with Natsu," she said finally, "and I'm mostly of a mind to let you do so. However, I feel that you should take some time to really think it over before you decide. Natsu's is a combat team, and with your... unique circumstances, I'm not sure that would be the best work for you. The combat teams capture criminals, but it's not their job or ours to execute them. I could place you with one of the research teams instead—if that turns out to be the safer course of action for everyone."

Zeref did not reply right away, although his immediate reaction to the request was dismay. She was right and this decision was not one that should be made hastily. Like all the other decisions he'd had to make in his life, he had to weigh every option for the one that would cause the least damage. What he personally preferred had to take second place, because when he made mistakes, other people didn't get second chances.

"I will give it some thought."

"Good. For now, stick with Natsu, and we'll talk again in, say, a week?"

Mutely, Zeref nodded.

.

Natsu wasn't pleased to hear the news, but it was a mark of how much he had learned of what it meant to live in a city that he held back any fiery outbursts or arguments. There were some things you could risk when living more or less alone in the wilderness that you couldn't afford to risk surrounded by millions of other people. Besides, it wasn't like any choices had been made yet.

Once Erza's office door had closed behind them, Zeref turned to him with a questioning look in his eyes.

"You know it's still going to be our decision in the end...?"

"I know." Natsu sighed. "Don't fret about it. I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't be unhappy if you got assigned to a different team, but I know that what I want and what's right aren't always the same thing. I'm not selfish enough to put people's lives at risk just because I'd rather have you with me, so just—make the decision you think is best, okay?"

Zeref nodded.

"Right then." Natsu placed a hand in the small of his back and pushed him gently towards the door. "Wendy's waiting for us in one of the interrogation rooms downstairs. I think it's something about a missing person's case. As a heads up, my team gets a lot of those because we specialize in tracking. We also tend to get a lot of criminal capture assignments for the same reason, especially when we already know who we're apprehending."

The Black Wizard filed this information away along with all the other bits and pieces of information he'd been collecting on this place. The sooner he knew how everything worked around here, the sooner he could actually find a place in it. Whatever happened, he didn't want these people to regret giving him this chance.

The woman waiting for them with the rest of Natsu's team looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her gray-streaked brown hair was drawn back in a sloppy braid with numerous strands escaping here and there, and the dark circles under her eyes stood out starkly against her pallid skin. She sat stiffly in one of the room's two chairs, twisting her hands in her lap and fiddling with a large, old-fashioned, topaz ring.

"This is Aileen Reese," Wendy introduced her once Natsu had shut the door. "It's her son. No one seems to have seen or heard from him since last Thursday."

Four days ago then.

"Could you describe to us what was happening up until he disappeared?" Natsu asked, turning to the woman. "I'm sorry if you've already told Wendy here, but I'd like to hear the details from you."

Aileen nodded, a quick little jerk of her head.

"I don't know what got into him. My son Davy, he's always been such a nice boy. He started college last year, you know—back in August. Lagano University." She paused and took a deep, steadying breath. "About a month into his second semester, his roommate—Reo, they've been friends for ages—he told me that Davy had been skipping classes and returning to the dorm at odd hours. He stopped talking to his friends, or at least the friends Reo and he had in common, and whenever I called him, his mind always seemed to be somewhere else. I thought... I thought maybe he just wanted some space to himself, growing up and being a college student and everything. But then last Thursday, he left in the morning but never got to class, and no one has seen him since—or no one that I've been able to speak to. He hasn't called me, and he left his cell phone on his dorm room desk."

"Could you give us a list of who you've talked to?" Natsu asked.

Aileen nodded and Wendy hurried to get her a pad of paper and a pen. While the woman wrote, the Sky Dragon Slayer turned to her team leader.

"There's something else," she said quietly. "I did some research on Lagano University, and it seems that Davy Reese isn't the only student who's gone missing in the last few months. A girl by the name of Gina was reported missing three weeks ago, and then a week before that, it was a boy called Eldin. The only thing they all have in common is that they've all taken a rudimentary magic class. That's why Ms. Reese's case got sent to us."

"With the same teacher?"

"Actually, no. Davy and Gina were in the same class, but the other missing student took the class with a different professor the semester before. So all we can really say is that all three of them had some interest in magic."

Aileen had been listening and said, "I'll mark the professor my son took that class with. And please, please let me know if there's anything else I should do."

"You've done a lot already," Natsu assured her. "Leave the rest to us. You'll be the first to know when we find something."

.

After Aileen's departure, the two winged cats Happy and Carla were dispatched to survey and explore the university campus in question. Wendy and Natsu divided up the list Aileen had provided, and after she cast an anti-motion sickness spell for him, Natsu and Zeref set off for the campus as well in search of the two professors that had taught the rudimentary magic class.

It was just Zeref's bad luck that a speech and debate club from a local high school was traveling on the same bus, headed for some kind of event on the Lagano University campus. Their voices filled the bus from front to back, made even louder and more raucous by the metallic confines of the vehicle. All the seats were occupied so the two wizards had to stand along with all the other people who hadn't been fast enough or fortunate enough to grab a chair. The Black Wizard wondered if this was what it felt like to be a sardine, except sardines probably had it all better worked out. He would have gotten a book out to read, but there was just no room with the press of bodies all around them.

He edged away from a pair of bickering students wearing the same bright yellow, club T-shirt and closer to Natsu, murmuring to the Slayer under his breath, "Distract me. Please."

"Well," Natsu said, thinking quickly. "Lagano and Magnolia Universities are the two main campuses in this city that offer degrees in magic. They've got a large proportion of wizards on their staff, and once a year, the two schools compete against one another in a tournament of sorts—you know, like wizard duels, games where players have to use their magic, and that sort of thing."

"Can outsiders participate?"

"Nah, but the public is free to attend and watch. It's a pretty popular event actually. If I remember correctly, Magnolia University's won the competition three years in a row."

"Have you ever gone to watch?"

"Thought about it, but last time it came around, some urgent business came up at work. The two of us could go watch this year if you're interested. I heard that they sell some great snacks in the stands."

"Speaking of snacks," Zeref said. "Have you ever been to Iris?"

"I don't think so."

"I think you'd like the marketplace there. I stayed there for a few months some years ago because Iris also has a large population of wizards. Their marketplace sells a number of wizard-made trinkets and snacks. I remember it because one stand was giving out samples of a drink that changed flavors with the temperature."

"Was it good?"

"I... don't really know. I tried it, but I was mostly interested in how it was made. I didn't really pay attention to how it actually tasted."

"We're definitely going sometime," Natsu said firmly. "I'm due for a vacation soon, and Erza can hardly expect me to leave you here while I go off. Or maybe we can join one of the department exchange programs and get assigned there for a few months."

"Does that happen often? Agents from one branch temporarily going to work for another?"

The Dragon Slayer shrugged.

"Often enough. The people in charge of MCI think it's important for departments in different cities to still be familiar with one another. It makes it easier to work as a team when we have to, and I guess familiarity is supposed to help decrease the possibility of within-division conflicts. I haven't worked here long enough to know if it works or not."

"I can see the logic in it," Zeref said. "People often dislike what they do not understand."

"I guess so." Natsu made a face. "Unfortunately, I've also heard that our department has a reputation for causing trouble, so we're not always that welcome."

"Ah."

From what he had learned so far, Zeref could see the reason in that too.

"On the other hand," Natsu said, "sometimes, agents with unique skills or magical abilities will get lent to other departments when a case or situation comes up that requires their particular expertise."

That brought up something else that Zeref had been worrying about.

"Natsu, I'm... not sure what I can do that will be of much use."

"You were plenty of help when we were just discussing my cases over dinner," Natsu pointed out. "I'm sure we'll be able to figure out what kind of work in the department you're most suited for. No one expects you to know right away. We've got time."

When the dark-haired wizard's expression didn't clear, Natsu changed tactics.

"Why don't I tell you about some of the things that people in the department have done? Maybe it'll give you some ideas."

Zeref nodded, and so they spent the rest of the trip discussing the specialties of different teams and individuals. It wasn't until the bus doors clacked open and the crowd began to disembark that they realized they had reached their destination.

.

The Lagano University campus consisted of a collection of nearly identical, rectangular buildings. One of the two professors they had come to see was just finishing up his lecture, and they waited just outside the classroom door while students streamed out into the hallway. Zeref hadn't set foot in a school for more than a century, but it seemed that school classrooms and lecture halls hadn't changed all that much over time. There was new technology, of course, with screens and computers and the like, but those were really only minor details.

The professor in question looked as though he had recently lost a lot of weight. His slate gray suit hung loosely off his bony frame, and his mind seemed to be elsewhere as he packed up his laptop and assorted lecture notes. He didn't even notice them until Natsu cleared his throat impatiently.

"If you have a minute, we've got a couple questions."

Washed out, blue eyes turned to look at them, flicking towards the winged tattoo on Natsu's shoulder before settling on their faces.

"Has something happened?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Some students have gone missing from this campus, and the only thing they've all got in common is that they've all taken the introductory magic course here."

The man stopped packing, frowning slightly. "Are you telling me that they were students in my class?"

"Two of them were," the Dragon Slayer said. "Davy Reese and Gina Milane. We were wondering if you might remember what they were like in class."

"Davy Reese and Gina Milane?" the man repeated, forehead wrinkled. "I think I remember them, yes. Very interested. Came to see me in my office once or twice."

"About what?"

"Oh, this and that about magic and what it takes to become a successful wizard. You always get at least one student with questions about that, ones who don't know any wizards personally and don't have other people to ask."

"Were they any good at it?"

"Magic, you mean? Well... it's hard to say for sure if they had any potential, although they didn't show any particular aptitude for it that I recall."

Zeref listened to the conversation quietly, just absorbing the information while he examined the details of the classroom. Rather than a traditional lecture hall, the chairs in this one had been arranged into groups around large work tables. Each cluster stood near the classroom walls, leaving an open space in the middle. He assumed that was for actually practicing spells. Not a very practical arrangement in regards to safety though. If a student threw a spell and missed, he or she was likely to hit the student on the opposite side of the room—or the professor. Perhaps the magic they taught here wasn't that volatile?

He wondered how much the content of these classes had changed since the last time he had been in one.

"Well, I guess that's it for now," Natsu was saying. "Let us know if you think of anything that might help."

"I have a question," Zeref spoke up, surprising both men. "Just out of curiosity, what area of magic do you specialize in?"

"Me?" The professor laughed, a strangely hearty sound in conjunction with his worn out appearance. "Nothing special. Mostly magical theory. That's why I often get tasked with teaching the introductory classes."

Once they were out of earshot, Natsu turned to him and asked, "Do you think the guy's involved?"

His companion glanced back over his shoulder where the man in question was hurrying towards the other end of the corridor. "It is possible, is it not? Assuming the disappearances have anything to do with magic, and assuming he told the truth about those students having very few wizardly connections."

"Hmm, that's true. We should be able to find out more about what that professor studies exactly. After we talk to the second one."

The second professor turned out to be a woman, and she was just leaving her office when they found her. She was... very orange. Her clothes were orange, her large purse was orange, and even the stone beads of her necklace were orange.

She was even less helpful than her colleague.

"I really haven't got time to talk right now," she said briskly, locking her office door without looking at them. "I've got two teams that I'm supposed to be coaching. If you come by tomorrow morning, I should have an hour or so then."

Natsu didn't argue.

"Fine then. We'll be back tomorrow. But just one quick question before you go. Have you worked with Professor Inami much?"

At this, she finally glanced their way, startled.

"What? Oh no, we hardly even talk. He's only been on the faculty for two years."

Natsu shrugged. "My mistake. I thought you might work together since you both teach the intro magic class."

When she was gone, Natsu folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

"Why do you think she lied about that?"

"She was lying?"

"Well, I don't know about the "work together" part, but they definitely know each other. In fact, they're probably going out."

"What makes you say that?" Zeref asked, baffled.

"They've both got traces of the other's scent on them. That doesn't happen unless two people get really, really close."

"...It's a little frightening how much a person's scent can tell you. I am glad that I never had any Dragon Slayers trying to hunt me down. Hiding would have been much harder." Zeref paused then asked, "Why do you think she lied?"

"I don't know. Would you deny it if someone asked you if you knew me?"

The Black Wizard considered. "Yes, actually, I suppose I probably _would_ deny it. Too many people are after me. I would be suspicious as to why they wanted to know who I knew."

It was Natsu's turn to ponder this. "Right then. Maybe she thinks that if we knew they were close, something bad would happen."

Both of them chewed on this possibility while they went in search of the university library and a library computer.

.

"Are you Reo?"

The boy who had opened the dormitory room door looked down at the young woman standing in the hallway.

"Yeah, that's me. Do I know you?"

Wendy smiled up at him and showed him her badge.

"Davy's mother came to us for help. My team's investigating his disappearance, and I'd like to look around your room and ask you a few questions—if this is a good time."

"Um, sure, I guess so."

The boy stood aside and Wendy stepped past him. The dorm room looked much as she would have expected a dorm room to look with two identical sets of furniture that included a bed, a small bookshelf, a dresser, a desk, and a chair arranged on opposite sides of the room. A few sports posters covered the walls, and the laptop on one of the tables was on.

"Nothing's been moved on his side," Reo said, gesturing at the half of the room that included a haphazard pile of wizard magazines. "His mom came by, but she didn't touch anything—just in case."

"Can you tell me about the days leading up to his disappearance? I mean, did he do or say anything unusual? Act differently maybe?"

Reo took a moment to think about this.

"Aside from staying out late and skipping class, I suppose the strangest thing was how tired he seemed. Well, I say tired, but it kind of seesawed. Sometimes he'd be real tired, but other times, it was like he had too much energy. It was starting to drive me a bit crazy. Sometimes, he'd be up typing his homework at three in the morning, and other times, he'd sleep like a rock through his alarm so that I'd have to get up to turn it off."

"He was interested in magic?"

"Very much, but he only started classes in it recently. He knows all the latest news on famous wizards and magical innovations, and he follows a bunch of teams in wizard sports."

"I see. What about you?"

"Me?" Reo snorted. "Nah, magic's not really my thing. I mean, it's cool and all, but I think what people can do with technology is much cooler."

He flushed suddenly, remembering who he was talking to.

"No offense, of course," he added hastily. "Wizards are great and they do a lot of good for society and everything."

"I'm not offended," Wendy assured him, somewhat amused. "I think it's a good thing that people have different interests. I love magic, but things like computers and cell phones are really useful too."

She paused, a strange scent catching her attention. Frowning, she walked over to Davy's cluttered desk and picked up the thermos on the corner. She unscrewed the lid and cautiously sniffed its contents.

"This coffee has something else in it, but I can't tell what it is."

"It's coffee?" Reo asked, startled. "I thought he hated coffee. He always said it was too bitter."

Well, that settled it then. This was probably important. She'd have to get a sample to the labs.

.

Late afternoon found Natsu and Zeref eating an early dinner at the Tenrou Coffee Shop after a long day gathering information on the university campus. Although it hadn't been an especially eventful day—talking to people and scouring the school's print and online records were relatively uneventful compared to fighting dark wizards—Zeref felt rather worn out. Then again, he'd been chased by and fought against dark wizards most of his life. All these other things were new. New, not because he had never done any of it before, but because he had never before been truly invested in the outcomes.

The waiter moved from a nearby table to theirs and cleared his throat.

"Your usual?" he asked Zeref. When the dark-haired wizard nodded, he turned to address Natsu. "What about you?"

"The same," Natsu said, inclining his head in his companion's direction. "Plus a house salad and whatever you guys have for dessert today."

The waiter nodded and made a few notes on his notepad. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, for both of us."

Zeref glanced around the shop, noting the handful of familiar faces. There were quite a few unfamiliar ones too with Tenrou being such a popular coffee shop. It wasn't just because it served excellent food at even more excellent prices, although that was certainly a major attraction. There was just something warm about the atmosphere that made customers feel at home. Maybe it was the easy closeness of the staff that they did their best to share with everyone, or maybe it was the decor with the round lanterns that hung from the tree branches that spread across the ceiling, shedding a warm, golden light over everything. Zeref couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was the place he and Natsu had first met, which gave it a certain kind of significance in his mind. It was only a place, but it was a place that held good memories for him, and heaven knew there weren't many of those places in his life.

"So?"

Zeref returned his attention to Natsu and found the Dragon Slayer watching him intently.

The Black Wizard took a moment to choose the right words for what he was thinking, then said, "It has been some time since I last tried to interact this much with others. It will take some getting used to."

He had spent so long focusing on being ignored or forgotten that it felt strange now to actually try and make himself a place here. One where he could remain for a long time yet to come, where people would actually know to look for him.

"That's understandable," Natsu said. "So what did you do before you came here, anyway? You told me that you never stayed long in one place, but you had to have done more than just hang about coffee shops and read, right?"

"I occasionally picked up work when I needed to, but it hardly seems worth recounting."

"It couldn't all have been that boring."

"Boring?" Zeref repeated as though the word was foreign to him. "Frankly, it never occurred to me to consider if any of it was boring or not."

It was amazing how much life one could live through without actually living. Zeref had paid just enough attention to everything to stay inconspicuous, and that was all.

"Hey, if you end up totally hating working at the division, you will let me know, right?"

"But it's why I'm currently allowed to stay here without the Council coming after me, is it not?"

Natsu glared at him over his coffee. "That doesn't mean there wouldn't be anything we could do about it, and it definitely doesn't mean I wouldn't still want to know. I want you to be happy here."

Zeref didn't respond right away. Whenever Natsu said such things, it brought up emotions in him that seemed strangely like an uneasy mixture of confusion and embarrassment. At least he thought it seemed like embarrassment; he hadn't felt embarrassed about anything in centuries so it was difficult to be sure. There was a part of him that still couldn't quite believe that someone actually cared about how he felt or what he thought, let alone if he was _happy_. Sometimes, he wasn't even sure he knew what happiness was supposed to feel like, although he imagined that it was probably a lot like how he felt when he was around Natsu.

"I think I will be fine here," he said finally. "But if I do end up disliking it, I will let you know."

And somehow, it was only right then speaking the words aloud to the one person in the world whose opinion he cared about these days that he realized they were true. Despite all of his doubts and worries, he really did feel as though he would be all right. The realization made him feel suddenly lighter. It probably wouldn't last, but while it did, he would try to enjoy it.

The Dragon Slayer scrutinized him for a moment longer as though assessing his sincerity then nodded, satisfied with what he found.

"Good. I'm holding you to that promise."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	3. Finding a Place

**Main Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **Other Mentioned Pairing(s)** : Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (married), Loke x Lucy Heartfilia, Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet

 **WARNINGS: AU ,** **eventual Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned**

* * *

 **Pieces of Tomorrow**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **3\. Finding a Place**

Zeref sat at Natsu's desk, reading through a number of documents and reports. It was late morning and the office was mostly deserted with the majority of agents having gone out on various assignments. He had asked to stay behind for the day while Natsu returned to the university campus to speak with more people. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told the Dragon Slayer that starting to interact with people again was going to take some getting used to. Having to be social was exhausting, and he didn't feel up to a second day of it in a row.

Besides, there was plenty of research he could do for the case from a distance, and the lab reports on the coffee were due back around noon. Z was happy to volunteer to wait for them and look them over when they arrived.

The sunlight slanting through the large, office windows made the room feel both bright and warm, and with only a few people about, the place was quiet but not entirely silent. In other words, Z thought it was rather perfect and exactly the kind of place where he had grown used to spending his time.

Hmmm, it looked like Professor Inami had been quite interested in magic duels for awhile when he was younger. He'd even won a tournament while he was in college, but aside from that one occasion, his marks were less than outstanding and he'd given it up shortly after graduation.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here."

Zeref looked up from the old newspaper article as someone else came into the office. The young man made his way across the room and set the cardboard box he was carrying on a table two desks away.

"I don't think we've officially been introduced. I'm Gray Fullbuster. I'm surprised you're not out with Natsu."

Zeref shrugged. "I'm waiting for some lab reports."

"Have you been by the research department?" the Ice Wizard asked. "Sometimes, it's faster if you go to them instead of waiting for them to bring it here."

"I have. This morning. But it wasn't ready yet."

The Black Wizard winced at the memory. He had felt wary of meeting the research department to begin with, and had previously spent quite a bit of his time in the office avoiding its members on principle. When he was finally introduced, he had discovered that his wariness was well justified. They had been very, very interested in him. They didn't get potential new members that often, and he was such a _fascinating_ potential new member. More than anything, they had been very, very interested in sticking him into one of their magical scanners to see what it would show about him, a request he had adamantly denied.

"Bad experience?" Gray asked, observing him from over the cardboard box.

"They were... intrigued by my circumstances."

The corner of the Ice Wizard's mouth twitched, and Zeref had the suspicion that he knew exactly what had happened.

"I'm guessing you met Daphne. She can be a bit... overwhelming." He shook his head then looked down into the box. "Well, since you're here, mind looking at some things for me? My team picked up an unregistered wizard downtown, and we found these in his car."

.

Natsu peered through the window of the empty classroom down at the athletic fields where a class was currently in session.

"Wouldn't it be easier just to go down there?" Wendy asked from beside him.

"It would," he agreed, "but something's fishy about her, and I don't want her changing their routine or something just because we're watching."

"Did she say anything when you talked to her earlier?"

Natsu snorted. "No, but she's a terrible liar. Can you hear what they're saying?"

"Give me a second," Wendy said.

She closed her eyes and focused on the breeze blowing through the crack between window and window frame. If she added a little bit of her magic... There. This type of high level eavesdropping hadn't been what she had envisioned doing with her Wind Magic, but it was undeniably useful.

"They're... discussing the upcoming competition against Magnolia University," she murmured, her brow wrinkled in concentration. "They're trying to decide who's going to represent the school in each of the three different games. Oh, I didn't know there were three."

Natsu frowned. "If I remember correctly, it was an obstacle course, a target-destroying contest, and a modified version of tag."

"That sounds about right. They're starting work for the obstacle course now."

Natsu watched the activity below with halfhearted interest. He'd spent all morning talking to various people, most of them students, but he could admit to himself that he wasn't as focused as he could have been. His mind kept wandering back to headquarters where Zeref was. He wondered what the boy was doing and if he was all right there by himself. The research department people had been rather creepy about him when Natsu had taken him over to introduce him.

So maybe the Dragon Slayer had to concede that being in a combat-based field team probably wasn't the best option for a wizard with Zeref's particular circumstances, but he really didn't think the research department was either. But if that was true, where did that leave them? Natsu was more than able and willing to fight the Magic Council over his intended significant other, but he wasn't foolhardy enough to think that it would be easy. Would they really withdraw their support if Zeref didn't end up finding a place in their department? Unfortunately, the Dragon Slayer believed that they would.

It was too bad Jellal hadn't accepted that Council position. It would have been helpful to have at least one Council member whose support they could count on.

"I think they're starting with the obstacle course," Wendy reported. "The coach is dividing them into groups that will rotate through different track and field activities—long jump, hurdles, the hundred-meter dash—oh, and relay too. Does the obstacle course include a relay component?"

"No idea. I've heard stories, but I've never had the chance to actually watch."

The students counted off into five different groups and headed over to their respective stations around the field. Each group organized itself and began taking turns at their assigned task, everything proceeding with the smooth flow of much practice.

Mostly, it looked like any other track and field class. This impression lasted all the way up until one girl in the long jump group jumped—and flew about thirty feet into the air.

The two wizards stared. Perhaps it shouldn't have surprised them—these students were training for a magical sports competition after all—but the girl seemed just as surprised as they were. Her startled cry could be heard even from their position by the classroom window, and she stumbled and almost fell when her feet touched the ground. Her leap had taken her forward almost a full twenty meters, and she missed the sand pit used for the long jump altogether. Her teammates gathered around her, some confused, some slapping her back in congratulation, and some simply stunned.

"I don't think we've spoken to anyone who's actually on the wizard sports teams yet," Wendy murmured. "Have we? Natsu? Um, Natsu, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, the team members. No, I don't think we have. I was going to, but professor coach down there kept giving me the evil eye and going on about how her students had a lot of practice to get done."

Wendy frowned at him, but chose not to remark on how distracted he was. She didn't need to ask to know where his thoughts were that morning.

"Why don't you head back to the office?" she said instead. "I'll see if I can catch some of the athletes on their way home when their coach isn't around to give me her "they're too busy" speech."

When the Sky Dragon Slayer's words finally registered, Natsu blinked and focused on her. He frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Go on," Wendy repeated firmly. "Anyway, there's still the lab results to go over. The two of you can do that together."

Natsu grinned. "Thanks, Wendy. I owe you one."

The blue-haired girl shook her head and sighed. Her team captain was already racing away along the corridor, but Wendy said what was on her mind anyway.

"Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do."

.

When Natsu arrived back at the office, it was to find Zeref and Gray examining a collection of what appeared to be chunks of stone. As he watched, Zeref poked one with a pen, and it promptly opened a mouth full of sharp little teeth and bit the pen in half. Blue ink splattered across the top of the rock in question and dripped onto the tabletop.

Gray swore while Zeref just looked bemused.

"I don't think pet rocks are illegal, are they?" Zeref asked.

The Ice Wizard made a face. "Great. Pet rocks that try and bite your fingers off."

"Well, it's certainly more interesting than your average pet rock."

"Interesting is not the word I would use." Gray shook his head and sighed. "I was hoping this would explain the thefts that have been reported in the area, but I guess not. Maybe if these things were stealing from the buyers, but that doesn't seem to have been the case."

"Hmmm."

Zeref set his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasped hands as he observed the animated lumps of grayish brown stone. The ink-splattered one grew four stubby little legs and lumbered its slow way over to its neighbor in order to nudge it with its... snout? Nose? Front end? In response, said neighbor extended one leg and kicked it, apparently displeased at being disturbed.

Natsu snorted as he walked up behind his partner and peered over his shoulder at the display. "Funny what people will buy, huh?"

Z glanced up at him and smiled just a little. "I don't know. I find them somewhat entertaining to be honest."

The ink-stained stone turned and bared its teeth at him.

"I don't think it feels the same about you," the Dragon Slayer said dryly. He sniffed then added, "Some of these smell like old coins."

"Old coins," Z repeated thoughtfully. "Were there coins among the stolen items?"

"Maybe." Gray rummaged around in his pocket for his notebook and flipped it open. "Yeah, I think so. Mostly though, the thief's been taking jewelry."

Z glanced at Natsu, who shrugged and took a coin from his pocket. He dropped it on the table in front of the pet rock. For awhile, nothing happened. They waited... And waited...

"Perhaps we should try looking away," Zeref suggested.

They did so—just as a knock came on the office door and a man in a white lab coat poked his head in.

"I have a chemical analysis report for a missing persons' case?"

Natsu strode over to take the offered folder. "Thanks."

When they looked back at the table, they were just in time to see the coin Natsu had left upon it vanish into the pet rock that still had blotches of blue ink staining its grayish brown surface. Natsu caught a whiff of odd but familiar magic, dropped the folder on another table, and picked up the rock despite its struggles, prying open its mouth to peer inside.

"It's empty," he reported. "But I think I saw a transportation circle for just a moment. That could explain the missing jewelry. Why don't you stick a tracker in something shiny and see what happens? I'm sure the research department still has some of those mini trackers we used on that kidnapping case last year."

Gray grimaced, but gingerly began to repack the pet rocks into their box. "Guess I haven't got a choice."

After he had gone, Natsu turned to his partner and said more quietly, "You seem more comfortable than you were this morning."

The other wizard blinked, his gaze turning inward for a moment as he contemplated this statement and reexamined how he was feeling. Sure enough, most of his earlier restlessness and tension had gone.

"I like looking at spells," he admitted after a moment. "I like understanding how different kinds of magic work."

And he was good at it. His history stood testament to that, so it wasn't exactly news. But... it had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to enjoy it or to admit to himself that he missed his studies. He wasn't like Natsu. He didn't care about being powerful and winning wizard duels. But he liked _knowing_ things. He liked figuring out how spells worked and developing new spells that could allow people to achieve goals they couldn't otherwise achieve.

That was also a large part of what had turned his life upside down all those centuries ago though. He was no longer as young or as naive as he had been then, and he understood much better now that knowledge, too, had its consequences.

Frankly, he had rather mixed feelings about it all, and about himself too.

Natsu didn't pursue the matter, but there was a thoughtful air about him as he retrieved the folder they'd received from the lab and opened it, laying the reports out upon his desk.

"Guess we should look these over. Wendy said she'd handle talking to the students in the afterschool sports program."

"You're not going to help her?"

Natsu threw him a crooked grin. "I wanted to check on you."

"I see." Z dropped his gaze to the reports. "Thank you."

Natsu just shrugged and turned his attention to the diagrams and charts before them. He knew that for Zeref, having someone worry about him was still a bit of a novel concept, but really, there was no reason to make a big deal out of it.

.

There was something slightly sad, Wendy thought, about being reduced to hiding behind bushes to spy on a group of college athletes as she tried to decide who to corner for an interview. She felt like a stalker, which was bad enough, but on top of that, the coach was taking her sweet time about leaving. The woman was making it a point to speak with every single student who had been practicing under her watchful eye, and Wendy thought she even saw the lady taking notes. She couldn't decide if the professor was being a good teacher or just being creepily nosy.

The day was well on its way to becoming late afternoon by the time the woman finally, finally vanished inside. Even so, Wendy waited until she was absolutely certain the coach wouldn't spot her before moving from her hiding place.

After some debate, Wendy decided to follow the girl who had performed that spectacular long jump during the physical education class earlier that day. Wendy hadn't realized that she was on the official sports team too, but that seemed like a promising lead if ever she saw one. Now, how to approach her without seeming like a creepy stalker?

The decision was taken from her when the girl in question suddenly stumbled. Without thinking, Wendy rushed forward to steady her.

"Are you okay?"

The girl blinked, lifting a hand to her forehead. For several seconds, she didn't respond. Then she turned and finally focused her gaze on Wendy.

"What..." She blinked, shook her head, then blinked again. "I'm—I'm fine, thanks. Just a little dizzy. I'll be okay in a minute."

Except that she wasn't.

Brown eyes fluttered shut, and the girl slumped forward. Wendy caught her, startled by how light she was despite being more than a head taller than Wendy herself. Carefully, she lay the girl down on the sidewalk and dug out her cell phone with one hand while she checked the girl's pulse with the other.

"Hi, I need an ambulance. A girl here just passed out..."

Once she was certain an ambulance was on its way, she dialed Natsu.

"We've got a problem," she said. "The student I was going to talk to just collapsed. I'm going to go with her to the hospital and see what I can find out. I don't want to examine her out here in the street. Do you want to meet me there?"

She caught snippets of a brief discussion on the other end of the call, then Natsu said, "We'll be there. Send me the location—and the name of the student."

In the distance, Wendy caught the approaching wail of sirens.

"Okay."

.

Zeref stuck close to Natsu as they made their way towards the private room the student had been given, trying hard not to think about how out of place he was in a hospital. Part of his mind kept nagging and reminding him that he shouldn't be here, not in a place full of sick and injured people looking to heal, but dwelling on that would be counterproductive. Instead, he occupied his racing thoughts with the chemical analysis that the MCI labs had performed.

If he was right, then he might actually have something that could help. But first, he had to see the patient in person.

Z jumped a little when a familiar arm shot out to stop him from walking forward. He stopped just in time to avoid running into a knot of people as they wheeled a bed down an adjoining hallway.

"I think you might be focusing _too_ hard on not noticing," Natsu said, though he sounded more amused than anything. "Come on, we're almost there."

Wendy was waiting for them in the square, white room, standing by the bed and glancing over the occupant's blood test results. She glanced up at them when they entered and shut the door behind them, a crease of worry between her brows.

"She hasn't woken up since she collapsed," Wendy reported. "I've already contacted her parents."

"Have you tried to bring her around?" Natsu asked, then added for Z's benefit, "Wendy here's actually trained as a healer."

The navy-haired young woman shook her head. "I thought at first that she was suffering from magic exhaustion. If that had been the case, I would have been able to help. But it looks like something different."

Natsu nodded, unsurprised. "Makes sense."

Before Wendy could ask, Zeref handed her the reports they'd received from the lab and explained, "It seems like the coffee you found in Davy's room was laced with a potion meant to amplify magical ability. A shortcut, I suppose you could say."

The confusion cleared from Wendy's face. She glanced over the lab reports, set them on the bedside table, then moved to press a hand to the girl's forehead.

"The substance in the coffee does seem similar to something that came up in her blood tests," she murmured, mostly to herself. "Let me see..."

Watching her, Natsu commented, "I still don't understand how having too much magical energy is bad."

"That's probably because you're a Dragon Slayer," Zeref said, moving to the bed's other side. "Dragon Slayers burn off a tremendous amount of energy when they use their magic. I'm not sure it's even possible for wizards like you to have too much magic. But this girl has barely had any magical training at all, and she's definitely no Dragon Slayer."

Wendy let her breath out in a rush and straightened. "You're right. It looks like most of her symptoms could be explained by a combination of exhaustion and her body failing to cope with the magic she's been trying to use. This has to have been going on for awhile, maybe months."

The room went quiet as the three wizards' minds turned to the missing students.

"Is she dying?" Natsu asked bluntly.

"No," Wendy said, and the other two relaxed a little before she continued. "But if she wakes up, keeps pushing herself..."

She shrugged.

"We should check in with Happy and Carla," Natsu muttered. "They've been tailing the two professors since this morning. We need to find those missing kids."

Quietly, Zeref opened the door to flag down a nurse and ask him to bring a glass of water. When it arrived, he set the cup on the floor and began drawing a magic circle around it. The other two watched in curious silence until the circle vanished in a flash of light and he handed the cup to Wendy, its contents not visibly different but definitely smelling like something other than water.

"I think this might help."

Wendy sniffed the liquid cautiously. "What is it?"

"Technically, you could say that this does the opposite of that amplification potion," he explained. "It's a magical energy _de_ creaser."

Natsu quirked an eyebrow. "And you know how to make one because?"

"I designed it a few decades ago. I thought it might make my magic more manageable."

"I'm guessing it didn't work."

"No. It wasn't strong enough."

"Will it hurt her?" Wendy asked.

"It shouldn't."

Wendy hesitated for only a moment longer before propping the unconscious girl up and beginning to dribble some of the water into her mouth with care. Natsu stepped outside to contact the winged cats, and Z settled himself by the room's single window, observing to make sure the enchanted water didn't cause any unexpected fluctuations. Wendy's movements were deft, well-practiced despite her youth, and Zeref wondered why she'd joined the police instead of finding employment in a hospital. He kept the questions to himself, however. He didn't really feel like he had the right to ask, at least not yet. The fact that she was a healer made him uncomfortable by default, and he suspected that that was why she seemed especially jittery towards him as well.

On the bright side, the potion seemed to be working. The girl's breathing seemed easier, and Wendy appeared pleased—something about the girl's heart rate dropping back to something more normal.

When Natsu finally returned what felt like an eternity later, Z caught his gaze and asked, "So what happens now?"

Natsu was unusually grim when he replied, "Now, I'm going hunting. Do you want to come?"

Zeref glanced toward the student still unconscious on the very white hospital bed and slowly nodded.

.

The semi-casual air of the last two days was gone. The expression on Natsu's face reminded Zeref of the night the Dragon Slayer had first seen his magic and discovered just who it was he had been spending so much of his time with.

Once outside, Natsu glanced over the routes that the cats had mapped out earlier in the day before turning his phone completely off and stowing it away.

"You said that Inami used to be interested in wizard duels, right? What about professor coach? What was her name again?"

"Motosaka."

Natsu grunted. "Right, her. I thought I'd heard the name before. Motosaka Stadium."

"Pardon?" The name didn't mean anything to Zeref.

The Dragon Slayer flashed him a grin that had too much teeth in it to be considered pleasant. "It's where most of the wizard dueling events are hosted in Magnolia."

"So," Z said slowly, trying to understand what Natsu was getting at, "the coach of the Legano University's wizard sports teams belongs to a family that owns and runs a stadium for hosting wizard duels? And you think... the two of them might be testing out ways to artificially increase a person's magical abilities. I suppose students without much magical training or knowledge of wizards who also want to participate in competitive, wizard sports would be easy targets to talk into testing such things."

"There's that," Natsu said wryly, but more importantly for right now, don't you think a building as large as a stadium would have someplace where you could conceivably hide several unconscious people without being discovered?"

Assuming they weren't dead anyway.

The thought must have crossed Natsu's mind too, because he added, "They didn't seem like they had any deaths on their conscience."

Zeref didn't comment, although he agreed. He'd seen more than his fair share of criminals and evil people over the centuries, and the two professors didn't give off the feeling of people who had deaths on their hands.

Still...

"Natsu," he said as the Dragon Slayer led the way through the thankfully quiet streets. "You said that your team gets a lot of missing persons cases. Are you... are you usually able to get them back alive?"

Natsu didn't reply right away, and when he did answer, he spoke slowly, as though choosing his words with care. "It depends a lot on how long ago it happened. Since I joined, we've been lucky about that. For the most part, people have reported disappearances relatively quickly, and I'm good at what I do. Never realized having to hunt for my own food would come in so useful even in civilization."

A trace of humor crept into his voice before it grew serious once more. "A lot of times in this city, people go missing because of magical accidents. Those tend to be okay, although those people are often kind of banged up and confused when we find them or fish them out of whatever weird mess they fell into. But... there was this one kidnapping case last year involving a dark wizard... That was a bad one. I was so mad I kind of almost tore down the whole city block. Got in some trouble for it, but honestly, everyone else was pissed too..."

He stopped suddenly, and Z almost walked past him, only halting when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Let's talk about this later, all right? This doesn't seem like a good time."

Z blinked, and the faint wisps of black fog that had begun to cloud the air around him dissipated. "Sorry."

Natsu shook his head. "MCI _is_ a division of law enforcement after all, and considering how many people use magic these days, a lot of the stuff we deal with can be really serious. And some of it's going to be upsetting. All you can do is focus on the people you've helped and the people who still need you."

The people who still needed them. The students who had gone missing.

Right.

.

"You told me you could fix this!"

"And I told you that we needed more time."

The argument drifted up to them from the bottom of the stairwell as snatches of angry whispers and hushed but unruffled retorts.

"The police have been asking questions. We don't have more time!"

"That's your problem for not being more careful with your recruiting."

Z glanced to Natsu, whose eyes were narrowed in concentration. So there was a third person involved? And this one sounded a lot more composed.

The voices moved away, and Natsu listened for a moment longer before making his way silently down the stairs. Z followed mere steps behind him, grateful that he'd had more than his fair share of experience sneaking around unnoticed. He wouldn't give them away.

If they tailed the two men too closely, they risked being spotted before they wanted to be, so instead, Natsu tracked their targets' progress by ear and kept Z and himself farther back. Hopefully, the two men would eventually lead them to wherever the missing students were being kept. Recovering the students was their first priority, followed by apprehending these two. There was the sound of a door being opened then closed. The footsteps slowed, as though the two men were pacing back and forth beyond the door—probably a room then, and not another corridor. Edging forward, Natsu peered around the corner, easily picking out which door their targets had passed through by scent. He glanced back at his companion, nodded left, and held up three fingers.

Z dropped his chin in acknowledgement.

It was difficult to say how long they waited, but when the two men stepped back out into the corridor and moved on, Natsu followed them. Z stayed behind, waiting for several minutes before darting out into the hallway and to the third door on the left. It was locked, but a quick spell took care of that. On the other side, Z paused for a moment, staring.

There were a few old shelves and boxes against the far wall that made Z think the room might once have been used for equipment storage. Whatever else had been kept here, however, had been cleared away to make room for eight narrow beds, three of which were currently occupied.

He recognized Davy Reese right away from the photograph the boy's mother had provided them. He was in the cot closest to the door, face paler and more gaunt than it was in his photograph.

The room's other two occupants had been tucked in farther towards the back, and, like Davy, were hooked up to IVs, presumably to help get some fluids and nutrition into them so they wouldn't die. The sound of their labored breathing felt far too loud in the stifled quiet of the room. Even though they weren't dead, he didn't have to be a healer to tell that they were in pain. Had they been hidden away here ever since they disappeared?

Z's fingers twitched at his sides, and he curled them into the fabric of his robes. Natsu had asked him to contact Wendy for additional assistance and then to look after the students until that help arrived. He had no idea what he was supposed to do about the second, so he'd start with the first.

A quick phone call later, and he'd run out of excuses for lingering by the door.

" _If you can, try to give them some of that potion you made here_ ," Wendy had said. " _It should make them more comfortable_."

There had been a vending machine a corridor away with bottles of water in it, but he didn't really want to get that close to any of these people—certainly not close enough to try and help them drink anything. He glanced around the room once more, and his gaze settled on the IVs. Well, there was liquid in those, and, as a bonus, they were already hooked up.

Taking a deep breath, Z stepped closer to the nearest bed and began very, very carefully to trace runes upon the air around the IV bag. He didn't sense any magic from the liquid inside, so there shouldn't be any conflicts.

As he reached the second student, a sudden flare of energy not far away made him pause. Natsu was fighting. Should he go help? Before he could make up his mind, he sensed one of the combatants breaking away from the battle—and whichever of their targets it was, he was headed back this way.

Z turned, a barrier spell tingling at his fingertips just as the door burst open, rebounding off the wall with a bang like gunfire. For a split second, he found himself meeting a one-eyed stare across the row of hospital beds, then the man lunged—not at Zeref, but at the unconscious student closest to the door. The dark-haired wizard's eyes widened. He dropped any ideas of a barrier and threw an attack instead, focused only on preventing the newcomer from acquiring any hostages. The man raised a shield of his own at the last minute, tendrils of green light crackling around him, and jerked back to avoid the brunt of the spell. But even so, the magic sent him flying backwards into the door, the impact almost tearing it off its hinges.

Natsu arrived then, crashing through the open doorway with a snarl. He seized the stranger by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, twisting the fabric in his grasp. The man wheezed and clawed uselessly at the Slayer's hand.

Natsu growled. "You bastard, going after people who can't even fight back. You're damned lucky this fight didn't drag out. I wouldn't pull any punches for scum like you."

Z turned away from the scene, heart still beating a little too fast. It spoke volumes about the condition these students were in that none of them had so much as stirred despite the commotion. He concentrated on that, returning his attention to the IV bags and resolutely not thinking about the strange shock of having to step in to protect someone else. He was used to having to defend himself and to taking precautions to keep other people safe from his own magic. But it felt different when the conflict in front of him technically had nothing to do with him. It wasn't a bad feeling; at the bottom of it, although he kept most people at a distance, he _did_ care about them. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have been so miserable these last few centuries. But it was... stressful.

It wasn't having to defend someone that felt strange. It was... being _depended_ on.

The occupant of the third bed visibly relaxed when the enchantment settled into place, and Z stepped back, putting more distance between himself and the sleeping students with a sigh of relief. Only then did he allow himself to look back towards the door. Natsu was just walking back through it, the unconscious Professor Inami slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He dropped the man none too gently on the floor next to his accomplice, who also seemed to be out cold.

Z glanced from them to Natsu, wondering what had happened.

The Dragon Slayer caught his gaze and quirked an eyebrow at the handcuffs that bound both men's' wrists behind their backs.

"Sleep spell," he explained. "Causes less trouble. Hurts them less than having to actually knock them out by force too. Research and development came out with them last year. Bit of a pain if you ask me, since it also means they can't walk themselves outside when the cars get here, but I have to admit that it's a quick and cheap way of preventing them from going for any spells. The sleep wears off about an hour after it's activated, but that's usually long enough."

"And the coach?"

"Happy and Carla are still tailing her. We'll pick her up once these two are taken care of."

There was a moment of silence, more awkward than silences usually were between the two of them, and then Zeref asked, "Is this it? I expected..."

"Something more dramatic?" Natsu suggested, amused. "It's not like a majority of these cases re the kind people film movies about and recount over and over again in sensationalist news. We'd go crazy if every job we had ended in major battles against diehard dark wizards."

"I see."

Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Z turned to slowly survey the room around them, taking in the way the labored breathing of the students still grated against the still air despite having eased up with Z's help, took in the two men sleeping propped against the walls with their arms cuffed behind their backs, the face of one pale to the point of hinting at severe anxiety and possibly guilt.

So this was it? They'd found the missing people, were working on nursing them back to health, and found evidence to arrest the culprits responsible?

Somehow, he'd thought there would be... well, like Natsu had said, more drama. Or maybe more violence?

"Trust me, we get plenty of that too," Natsu said. "It's terrible on our budget, as you know. It's just—different kinds of criminals and crimes. We get all sorts."

And honestly, this particular situation could easily have gotten a lot worse.

Zeref nodded, his gaze still fixed on the makeshift hospital beds. They could hear the sirens of approaching police cars, and Natsu moved to drag the two criminals off to one corner so they wouldn't be in the way of the paramedics who would arrive with the ambulance. That done, he retreated to stand next to Zeref and draped an arm around his shoulders.

"I've been thinking," Natsu said, voice serious when he finally broke the awkward tension, "that maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way."

Z looked at him, and Natsu continued. "It's not about finding a place. It's about making one, you know?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"We've been trying to figure out which job in the department fits you best. But no one actually said we couldn't come up with a new job, right? As long as you're able to help us with the work we do, I don't see why anyone should complain."

As long as he could be helpful...

Z imagined that there would always be something that people could complain about, but when Natsu put it so simply... Well, he had to admit that it made sense. He'd been trying to fit himself into all these different roles that already existed within the department, but he wasn't like these people. He'd always been a bit eccentric, even before he'd been cursed with immortality.

Natsu was right. Maybe it was time to change his mindset and the way he approached this.

.

Zeref shut the door of Erza's office quietly behind him and sat gingerly in the chair opposite her. The head of Magnolia's MCI division glanced up at him, nodded, then finished skimming the report in her hands before laying it aside to focus her attention on the newest addition to their ranks.

"In case you were wondering, both professors have been arrested for illegal use and distribution of magical substances—among other things. That other man, the one with the missing eye, the Rune Knights have been searching for him for awhile, so they'll be taking him into custody. It's believed that he has close connections with some pretty notorious dealers in magical drugs."

Slowly, the boy nodded.

Erza wished it was easier to read what was on his mind. It was so difficult to tell what he was thinking.

"So," she said after the silence had dragged on for too long and he'd made no move to speak, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well..." Z hesitated then continued, "Is it required that everyone is assigned to one team?"

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

Her guest shifted in his seat.

"I know I would do well at the kind of work they do in research and development, but... I don't think I could work there, and it's not who I want to be."

He paused, and Erza waited. She'd heard about his visit the other morning to said department and really couldn't blame him.

"That being said, if I'm honest with myself, I... don't think I could do what Natsu does either, not every day—at least, not right now. The risk of someone dying would be too high. In the future, maybe, when I'm more accustomed to being here, but..." He shrugged. "For now, I was wondering if I could just act as some sort of—general consultant. I can do shifts with different field teams in turn half the time, and when I'm not out, I'll make myself available in the office to help anyone who needs it—for anything that's either not large enough to require being passed on to research or too urgent to wait. It shouldn't matter if I'm assigned to a specific team as long as I'm useful, right?"

Frowning, Erza sat back in her chair. He spoke with a kind of blunt honesty that she suspected would put many people off. It made her more uncomfortable than she cared to admit, mostly because he wasn't wrong.

"Well," she said after giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts, "the Council will certainly be easier to deal with if we can show them proof that you're fitting in. Your plan seems sound, so let's go with that for now and see how things play out. I'll get you a list of the current field team captains, and Natsu can introduce you."

Zeref nodded, thanked her, and stood up.

"And by the way," Erza said as he made to leave.

He stopped and glanced back at her, questioning. She wanted to say something about his earlier words, but what _could_ she say? Considering who he was, she doubted she could offer any real reassurances, not any that he would believe. At the same time, she didn't want to just let him leave on such a note. A good leader ought to be able to help the people who worked for her.

Finally, Erza sighed and said the only thing she could think of. "Good luck. I know it might not feel like it yet, but we're glad to have you here. We'd feel the same if you were any other new recruit, even if you had no previous experience with magic at all. Circumstances might be more complicated with you, but that doesn't change that fact. So... like I said, good luck, and welcome to Magnolia."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	4. Safe

**Main Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **Other Mentioned Pairing(s)** : Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (married), Loke x Lucy Heartfilia, Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet

 **WARNINGS: AU ,** **Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned**

* * *

 **Pieces of Tomorrow**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **4\. Safe**

"Since you're going to be staying more permanently, I think we should make a few changes."

The two of them stood in the living room of Natsu's apartment and surveyed the place through new eyes. As a permanent residence for two wizards, it most definitely wouldn't do. Besides, he wanted Zeref to feel like he belonged here too, like it was his home rather than just a home that he happened to be borrowing.

"I don't really own much other than books and a few changes of clothes."

"That should make things easier. I've already got a bookshelf in here and my closet's got plenty of space. We can go shopping for anything else you might need."

"I don't really need anything."

"Or anything you might want."

"I... don't really want anything either."

Natsu turned to scowl at him. "You're missing the point here. I'm not saying we should go on a spending spree and buy a lot of junk. I want to know what we can do to make this feel more like a place where you can live."

When the Black Wizard continued to look lost, Natsu sighed and changed tactic. "Think about it this way. What kind of place would you like to return home to after work? Or wake up in the morning in? Homes are supposed to be places where you can feel comfortable and secure and just be yourself. Don't think I haven't noticed the way you're so careful with everything. Hell, I'm positive you even put the mugs you use back in the cupboard with their handles facing exactly the way you found them. You've been living here for a couple weeks now, but if someone were to walk in here right now, they'd never guess that it hasn't just been me."

Zeref knew what he was getting at. There were no signs here of his presence, no evidence that he was living here at all aside from the fact that he was still usurping Natsu's bed.

Home.

A place to return to.

Just because he understood, however, didn't make it easier to imagine.

"Can I... have some time to think about it?" he asked finally.

"Of course you can. Just don't take forever about it. It's not like we can't change things if it turns out not to work. If it helps, we could also check out a few furniture stores in the meantime."

"That might help, yes."

.

It was well into the evening and all the shop assistants had gone home for the day. Aceto had been preparing to close the store altogether and head home herself, but just as she moved to flip the sign in the window to "closed", the bells above the front doors tinkled. She dropped her hand back to her side and turned, surprised.

The two boys who had just stepped into her store didn't appear to notice her right away. Instead, they were talking to each other, their voices not loud but nonetheless carrying in the muffled silence of the vast room.

"I've heard this is a good place if you don't know what you're looking for," the wild-haired one was saying. "Maybe 'cause it's big and has a lot of stuff."

"I think this is a large chain store. I'm sure I've seen their stores in other cities."

"Really? I had no idea."

"Natsu, this isn't the first time you've actually been in a furniture store, is it?"

"Of course not! There was this one dark wizard last year who we arrested for selling cursed lamps and causing a bunch of house fires. He ran a furniture store."

"Where did the furniture you have now come from?"

"Let me think... I bought some of it, and some of it, I got from people at the office who were redecorating."

"Ah."

Aceto tucked the curtain of her long, brown hair behind her ears, coughed lightly to gain their attention, and stepped forward.

"Can I help you?" When they looked at her, she added with a smile, "Some people will start by thinking about colors when they aren't sure what they're looking for. It's also helpful to think about the kinds of things you spend the most time at when you're home."

The two boys glanced at one another, then the wild-haired one grinned at her.

"Thanks," he said. "Sorry we came in so late. I know it's almost your closing time."

"That's all right," she assured them. "Take some time and look around, and please don't feel pressured to buy anything today. Furniture isn't something anyone should buy without thinking it through carefully. I'll be in the back finishing up some paperwork if you have any questions."

She'd have to make a phone call too. It looked like her husband might be getting home before her tonight, and she didn't want him to worry. He tended to get carried away by strange ideas when he was worried.

.

Like many furniture stores, the various chairs, tables, cabinets, carpets, and other merchandise had been set up to resemble a patchwork of interior decorating tableaus. There were coldly modern setups with plenty of metal and glass, more lively areas sporting strangely shaped surfaces and brilliantly colored upholstery, and more old fashioned settings—all heavy, ornately carved wood and brocade. The two wizards wandered past all of these, drawn instead to the plainer, more ordinary pieces on the far side of the large room.

Colors.

"Do you have any colors you prefer?" Z asked.

"Not really. And anyway, we're here about you."

"But I don't really have any preferences either."

Okay, so maybe colors weren't where they should start. Functionality was a more practical approach anyway.

Except... except he honestly couldn't think of anything he needed or wanted to add to the apartment. He stopped by a set of waist-high shelves and surveyed the store. It was like being surrounded by lots of little living rooms and dining rooms where all the dividing walls had been removed. He had lived in all sorts of places over the centuries and had no strong feelings for any of them. His fondest memories were of being outdoors sleeping under the stars when the weather was warm enough for him to do so and when he was sure he wouldn't immediately have to move on again.

"I suppose as far as the current world is concerned, I'm little more than a ghost," he mused aloud.

"Don't be ridiculous. Ghosts don't eat sandwiches or book rooms at hotels."

"No, but I've worked very hard to leave no trace of myself behind when I leave a place. Like I've said, I was always just... passing through. I'm not feeling sorry for myself or anything, you understand. I'm just stating a fact."

He glanced over at Natsu to find the Dragon Slayer frowning, although it appeared to be more of a thoughtful expression than an unhappy one.

"Do you feel safe here?"

Z was a bit startled by the question. "Pardon?"

"You had to do all that because it kept you safe, right? It made it harder for people to find you."

Z weighed all of his possible answers in his mind before asking, "Would it bother you if I said no?"

"Well, I obviously wouldn't be _happy_ about it, but it's not like I don't get that these things take time. And things are more complicated for you. So is the answer no?"

Safe? That was a more difficult question than one might think. Safety was, for Zeref, a rather complicated concept. There was the need to prevent himself from being captured by dark wizards, but also the constant danger of losing control of his own magic and causing irreparable damage to those around him. He was under constant pressure not only to stay aware of who might be watching him, but to monitor his own mental and emotional states.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I want it to be yes, but I don't know."

Natsu sighed. He sat down on the nearest couch, which turned out to be quite soft with a pattern of autumn leaves upon the fabric.

"I want you to feel at home," he said bluntly. "but I don't know how to make that happen. I want you to have a place where you feel like you can just be yourself."

Touched by this short but straightforward speech, Zeref sat down next to him on the couch and looked around them—at the low bookshelves and the tea table and the plush, dark green carpet. He understood why they had come here, understood the gesture for what it was, but...

"Natsu, you don't have to make it happen. I know it doesn't look like I'm living in the apartment at all, but that doesn't mean I don't consider it to be my home. I'll... add things when they come up."

The Dragon Slayer eyed him sidelong, and it was one of those looks that always reminded Zeref that his partner was more observant than many people gave him credit for. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Natsu studied him for a moment longer then nodded. "Guess that's all right then. But at least unpack your books when we get back."

"I will."

Idly, Z plucked a random pillow from beside them, turned it over in his hands, paused, and stared. The pillow stared back at him through large, black, stitched eyes set above a wide, stitched smile.

Natsu glanced over at what had caught his partner's attention and laughed. "Want one?"

"Absolutely not. The last thing I need is furniture that watches me. I'm paranoid enough as it is."

.

Aceto smiled to herself when the sound of laughter drifted across the store to her. The two boys got up from the couch they'd been talking on and began wandering from display to display, examining lamps and tapping on tables.

Velveno's voice drew her attention back to her cell phone. "So they buying?"

Not taking her eyes from the pair, she answered, "I don't think so, but I think... that they'll be back."

And even if they decided not to visit her store again, she was glad that somehow, in the time they'd spent here, they'd been able to clear up whatever had been troubling them. Her own love life had been tumultuous with her father's fierce disapproval of her husband's impoverished background. Family dinners back then had been the worst, all cold and full of sharp words, and the house she'd spent her whole childhood in had suddenly stopped feeling like home. That was probably about the time she'd started paying such close attention to other people's relationships and the way they interacted with one another. She'd seen the embarrassed infatuation that marked so many new couples, seen the brittle cordiality between couples on the verge of breaking apart, and seen the unassuming, comfortable air that surrounded close couples who'd been together for years upon years. She could tell when two people were hiding a relationship, as well as when they were interested but hadn't yet reached out.

These two though... Aceto wasn't sure about these two. They weren't as easy to read as most of the people who came into her store, but there was something about them that she felt promised to become a kind of easy intimacy that made her hope everything worked out for them.

Half of her really wanted to talk to them, to ask them questions, and to give them advice, but she resisted the urge. She knew from her own experience that they would have to work things out for themselves, and honestly, they looked like they were well on their way to doing just that.

"You sound happy."

She hummed in agreement. "It's been a good day."

She could hear her husband's smile when he replied. "I'm glad."

After reassuring him that she'd be careful on her way home, Aceto tucked her phone away and went to pick up one of her business cards from the side counter. She'd just give them her contact information in case they decided they wanted to buy something in the future.

.

In the end, Natsu and Zeref didn't purchase any furniture—or any knickknacks from the department store across the street. But they did return home with a new camera and the feeling that something had been accomplished all the same.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


End file.
